Log Burner opposed to gas fire.

[neilyoungismyhero]

I'm wondering about the benefits (if any) of getting involved with a wood burner. It would mean the initial hefty purchase plus knocking the wall/ceiling about but after that would it be more economical? - at the moment we have a small gas fire. For the last 2 or 3 years we haven't used the CH just relied on the fire and it's been fine...I feel the cold but have been fine. We now have a small kitchen extension with a dining room and this open space was very chilly last year so we did have the CH on for a while.

The gas fire is practical and clean and no hassle and instant heat whilst a log burner would entail buying the right sort of wood to burn, cleaning it out and putting it on at the right time of time to allow it to be the right temp. during the evening...plus Im not even sure the council would allow this?
Anyone have any advice please?

Despite growing on trees, firewood isn’t cheap.

I wouldn't. They're antisocial, cause health issues and are polluting. I suspect they'll be banned shortly so don't waste your money.

I have a wood burner and I love it, but if it wasn't for the free firewood, I wouldn't be able to run it. Logs have increased in price recently as there are stricter seasoning laws. I imagine the price will have increased this year, along with coal, as they know people will be relying on them to avoid central heating bills.

Don't understand how they are antisocial etc if you burn them correctly. Wood burners will not be banned despite pp. The new laws are about making wood burners more efficient and more economic friendly.

Would a pellet stove be an option?
www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Pellet-stoves.html

Not quite the same but ours is very cheap to run.

its a bind and hard work if you want it on all winter. Cut logs. Season them. It’s fine if you have access to trees but if you are buying seasoned timber in, I’d imagine it’s expensive and you burn a lot quickly. You could get a multi fuel and order coal from the internet. You become a slave to it.

I had one installed in my flat in a city and spent the weekend trawling warehouse car parks for free pallets. A cheap alternative but burn very quickly.

Lots of misinformation on here about wood burners, but it’s not the economical option you think it might be if you’re purchasing kiln dried timber. We will use about £200 worth of timber from October to about April depending on the weather. It’s not a dirty option, proper dried timber burns very clean and the stove doesn’t need cleaning out more than every couple of weeks, if that. Ours pretty much heats the whole house - 3 bed terrace.
However, if you burn unseasoned timber like pallets you’ll get a colder burn, more emissions and it will need servicing and cleaning out fr more often. You can’t just burn any old rubbish on it!
Emissions wise, it’s far cleaner than a diesel car or oil fired boiler, and on a par with a newish gas boiler.
You need to realise that putting one in isn’t a money saving option. A decent one will cost the best part of 4K for installation.

I don't have asthma but have had breathing issues when people around me are using their burners (post Covid). Maybe they're all using them wrong but the smoke comes into my house and it makes my clothes smell if they're outside. I think that's pretty antisocial.

unless the govt sort the energy crisis out I imagine lots of people will be using their wood burners much more this winter. It costs us £150 for kiln dried logs which lasts most of the winter and means we don’t have to use the central heating much at all. I can’t afford to pay the gas prices now so I’m afraid we will be being anti social, if people don’t like it they can join the queue asking govt to actually do something to sort out the insane energy prices.

Find out if your council allow it first.

I mostly buy logs (occasionally get my hands on some fresh cut stuff, but I've had to borrow a chain saw and leave it to season for 18 months). I paid £65 for a builders ton bag in April. That same bag is now £130 plus. My log store is absolutely full, but I reckon it will see me through until Jan/Feb when I may need to order more. It all depends on the winter we have.

Log burners can be great, but they aren't as easy as switching heating on. That said my burner warms my whole downstairs and my bedroom as the flue/chimney breast runs through it.

I got my logs from my normal supplier this year at £100 a cubic meter. He was saying his local competitor have put their prices up to £180 a cubic meter.

thankfully I have also just squired 2 cubic meters of fresh wood for free for next year.

but yes, think how much you will spend on wood as well.

@dressupinyou They are doing something wrong, most likely burning unsuitable wood or you are overly sensitive as you shouldn't smell someone else's smoke in your house. Were you fine with fires before covid or is it a side affect?

Asthmatics are more sensitive to log burners, it not something dressupinyou is doing wrong, it’s just the way it is.

Lung conditions and lig burners

We use eco briquettes (same material as pellets I think but shaped like log) in our wood burner however they were always pricey and now the cost has gone up more. I have done a calculation and its not hugely cheaper than heating with gas.
You absolutely shouldn't try to burn any old crap though. Unseasoned wood won't give much heat and will smoke/smell.

We have a coal and wood burning fire yes it's a pain to clean it after every use but it saves us a fortune on heating we are going to be moving and it's the first thing we will look into doing in the new house

We had an eco burner multi fuel (logs and coal) installed last year. £4.5k including installation. We love it. It has 2 fans on top which help push the warm air around our 4 bed detached. Closed off rooms remain unheated. Still use central heating for one hour AM and PM to take the edge off as making and tending to a fire takes time. We use ours evenings and weekends mainly. We buy seasoned logs at £65 per ton from a local supplier. The wood is stored it in a shed plus our garage. Our first winter we used 3 tonnes of wood and started using coal some days which gives off more heat for longer and needs less tending to than wood. We’re having ours serviced and swept in September in preparation for winter use. They’re cosy and a great central point for a home.

Had use of one for years in our previous home and 7 years ago had one installed in our current one. It’s an eco boiler and our only heating and hot water in the winter. It was expensive to install but we had to have new heating system at the time anyway. Logs are increasing in price like every fuel. We paid £10 more a cubic metre in March than we did last year. In May we paid £300 for 3.5 cubic metres delivered. If you use smokeless ovoids they have increased in price a huge amount too. They are not cheap to run unless you have a free renewable log source and as with all fuel wood is renewable but only if it’s replaced. It is a faff, can be a bit messy emptying the ash pan, filling up the log basket. It is cosy in the winter, kids love getting home and snuggling up as do the dogs. Our cat used to not move much from Oct-March. We live rurally and only smell stoves if just lit and it’s cold or people are burning wet wood. It’s very handy during power cuts which we seem to get regularly.

I have one. It's a pain.

They use up a lot of wood. They're dirty. Dusty. They can be tricky to light

I've always been sensitive to smoke from burners and fires including campfires but it was worse after Covid.

There are lots of people with asthma, other lung conditions and allergies that are affected though, every day.

Get a multifuel one with a back boiler. This heats the radiators in the house and hot water. Bit of a pain to clean each day and restock coal and logs but is obviously alot cheaper with the gas and electricity prices

We love ours. Only use seasoned wood (get it from a local source) and only has to be cleaned out every few weeks. Heats the entire downstairs. Wouldn't be without it.

There is indeed a lot of misinformation on here, quite surprised by it.

we have a wood burner, live in a smokeless area and our stove is defra approved. They will not be banned any time soon. My husband is asthmatic and there is no issue, my friend is also and she has one, no issue or worsening when it’s on.

Cleaning it is very easy, you take thr drawer out, tip the ash into a sack and put the drawer back. You can clean the glass if you want or not.

wood if you buy it is expensive, and you need to store it. Your stove should be installed by a hetas engineer and notified to building regs. I have no idea why your local council wouldn’t permit it,

Can be messy and expensive and manually intensive. Choice of the right sort of firewood is key and it needs to be well seasoned. Local is best! Rather than imported stuff. Also remember that when buying by the cubic ton you are paying for a lot of air. You'd need around 3 dumpy bags (builders sand bag type) for a ton. A dumpy bag will hold approx 300kg of logged fire wood. We tend to get our firewood either in rounds or by length rather than buying ready logged. Firewood at the roadside (in lengths) is currently about £65/ton (actual weight), it will then need to be hauled, processed, stored (to get it down to -20%moisture) and distributed taking it up to around £180/ton (weight). Dryness and species are critical. A wood burner really needs to be in all the time 24/hrs a day. Ours has a back boiler so does central heating and water as well. It's a hungry beast though -needs likely 2 full log baskets a day, more if it's colder. I can't carry in a full log basket and have to do several trips to the log store with a bag for life (!). Not pleasant when it's tipping it down. It's manually hard work even if it's delivered ready chopped. Not for the faint hearted.